Control ring attachment for spinning machines



June 30,1959 R; R.- CONE 2,892,301

CONTROL RING ATTACHMENT FOR SPINNING MACHINES '7 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 5, 1958 INVENTOR. RICHARD R. CONE BY //M /M ATTORNEY;

June 30, 1959 R. R. CONE 2,892,301

- CONTROL RING ATTACHMENT N03 SPINNING MACHINES Filed June :5, 1958 '1 She ets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. RICHARD R. CON E BY A MZJM ATTORNEY! June 30, 1959 CONTROL RING ATTACHMENT FOR SPINNING MACHINES Filed June 3, 1958 7 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR,

D RCONE.

WM 14M ATTORNEY) 7 Sheets-Sheet 4 ATTORNEY! June 30, 1959 R. R. CONE CONTROL RING ATTACHMENT FOR SPINNING MACHINES Filed June 5, 1958 2:525: 2:22;;5:252:E2525 i1! 5 I m m i .M w EA i153 F. M

f I i nag 1% I June 30, 1959 R. R. com: 2,892,301

CONTROL R ING ATTACHMENT FOR SPINNING MACHINES Filed June 3, 1958 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 5 Tig. 7-

' INVENTOR.

RICHARD coma ATTORNEY! R. R.'CONE June 30, 1959,

7 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed June 3. 1958 INV EN TOR.

RICHARD R. CONE BY A M/ AM ATTO R N EYF a I I m. F v a: i 3

R. R. com:

June 30, 1959 CONTROL RING ATTACHMENT FOR SPINNING MACHINES Filed June 3,- 1958 7 Sheets-Sheet 7 INVENTOR.

RICHARD R. CONE BY HMZ'AM ATTORN EY! United States Patent() "ice 2,892,301 CONTROL RING ATTACHMENT FOR SPINNING MACHINES L Richard 'R. Cone, Gastonia, N.C., assignor to William D. Lewis, Gastonia, N.C.

Application June s, 1958, Serial No. 739,588 I 9 Claims. or. 51-54 It is a primary object of the present invention to proi e on l n appa us. f r tta ent o p n fr mes whe eby. ar pa ka es o higher q a ytyam may be produced ,at higher -speeds, and lower cost with,- a t r'en e w hnorm vdq ng'pro dures- ,2

It is a further objeet-oftheinyention to provide balloon control apparatus for spinning, frames that is operated in synchronism with the spinning rail from the builder mechanism of the spinning frame;

It is a further object to provide such a device that may be selectively raised above the yarn package being wound or lowered substantially into engagement .with the, spinning ring rail whereby the operator may ,selectively doff the wound bobbins with the control ring in either the high or low position..v F 1 It is a furtherobject ofv the present invention to provide I a balloon control ring which may be pivotedso that the Y planeof the control ring is in a vertical position when the .operator desires to doff. the: wound bobbins with .the .control ringina raisedvpositiong i A further object is to. provide such a device that-may ,be advantageously employed with conv'entionalflat blade .separators now -commonly employed on'high'speed spinning frames. 7 j

A further object is toprovide a balanced balloon control ring mechanisrnwhich substantially reducesj wear on the parts, insures:trouble-free operation and maintains the v power. consumed injthe operation of themechanism at a minimum, I ig- 1 i These and other objects ,andladvantages are provided by the control apparatus of the-present invention which generally includes a plurality of circular separator or balloon control rings adapted to bemounted on a control ring rail synchronously reciprocated in a vertical direction frornthe builder mechanism reciprocating the spinning ring rail.. The separator ring rail is disposed for the synchronous reciprocating movement with a .pair of traversing castings which are guided in such vertical reciprocating movement by associated guide rods and .wherein the control ring rail is firmly maintained and supported in circular saddles formed in the region of'the: I

top of the traversing castingsand detent members are ,providedto hold the rail within the saddles: permitting selective rotation of the rails with respect thereto whereby the control ring; rail maybepivoted about its longi- .tudinal axis to rock the control rings to apos itionallowing for'ready access'to thebo b bins for doflirig.

- substantially .with" similar parts on the opposite side being indicated by primed reference numerals. ber of the bolster rail 24 supports a plurality of bolster -erally designated 40.

2,892,301 Patented June 30, 1959 "The invention will be more particularly described with reference to the illustrative embodiments of the invention shown in the accompanyingdra-Wings; wherein:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a ring type yarnspinning machine including the balloon control ring attachment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is an end elevational view substantially on line 2'-2.0f Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of three spindles of the spinning frame shown in Fig. l with the balloon control rings in their upwardmost position; J

Fig. 4 is an end view of the structure shown in Fig. 3; 1 Fig. 5 is anenlarged fragmentary view of three spindles of the machine shown in Fig. 1 with the balloon control ring in its lowermost position for low doffing of the wound bobbins;

. Fig. 6 is an end view of the structure shown in Fig. 5; Fig.7 is a view similar to that shown in Fig. 3 with the separator rings in the upwardly pivoted position for bobbin dofiing in conjunction with a traversing casting with a modified lint shieldincluded thereon;

..Fig. 8 is an end view of the structure shown in Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is an enlarged rear elevational view of th traversing casting of the present invention; '1 .Fig. 10 is a: side elevational view of the traversing casting shown in Fig. 9;. i a

IifFig'. lluisa view substantially on line 11-11 of Fig.210j f Fig. 1 2 is an .enlarged fragmentary top plan view of one of the circular separator rings; a

Fig. v1.3 is :a section substantially on Fig. 12;. ,Figp-l4 is a section substantially on line 1414 of Fig..13; and

I, Fig. 15. is a perspective view of an adapter for securing the separator rings to the separator ring rail.

q The balloon control ring attachment of the invention isillustrated as being applied to a ring spinning machine, having a head or gear end 20 and a remote end 22 between which are mounted a pair of spaced parallel line 13-43 of bolster rails 24 and 24' to provide a machine having two substantially identical sides positioned in back-to-back arrangement with the spindles on one side in line with the spindles on the, opposite side.

As the two. sides of the spinning identical,

frame are only one will be described The top memcases 26 each carrying a spindle whorl 28 for rotating the plurality of yarn bobbins generally designated 30 .through belts 32 trained about each of the spindles and then about a drive cylinder 34 as more clearly shown -in Fig. 2 of the drawings.

The drive shaft 36 of the drive cylinder 34 is rotated by an electric motor 38 connected thereto through plural V-belts .and pulleys gen- As in conventional spindle drives the belts 32 also pass about guide pulleys 42 supported from weighted guide pulley brackets generally designated 44.

Each of the parallel rows of spindles is provided with a ring rail 48 which carry the plural spinning rings 50 provided with the usual travelers 52. The ring rails 48 aresupported fromthe upper ends of lifter rods 54, the

lower ends of which are provided with foot portions 56. engaging rollers 58 carried by the cross-shaft lifter glevers generally designated 60 for the main portion of the builder mechanism and 62 for the lever arm of a .slave builder mechanism connected to lever arm 60 through linkage 64.

Lever arm 60 is connected to the bottom element of the bolster rail 24 by a hanger member 66 while lever arm 62 is connected to the bolster rail by a similar hanger member 68. Lever arm 60 includes an extension 70, the extended end of which supports a large counterweight 72. Segment arm 74 carrying at the upper end an arcuate segment 76 provides connection by chain. 78 to a conventional gear drive for rocking the lever arm 60 about its pivotal connection 80 with bracket 66. As the chain 78 is pulled in the direction of the directional arrow, rollers 58 of each of the lever arms 60 and 62 move downwardly permitting lifter rods 54 to move vertically downwardly carrying the spinning ring rail 48 and their associated rings 50 in the downward direction. During the other half-cycle, counterweight 72, rocks the levers 60 and 62 in the opposite direction causing lifter rods 54 to move upwardly carrying therewith the Spinning ring rail.

Positioned above the spindles 30 and the bobbins 82 is a roller beam 84 which supports a hinge board 86 which, in turn, carries conventional thread guides 88.

The roller beam also supports conventional drawing rolls generally designated 90, while positioned. above the drawing rollsare the spools of yarn 91 that are tobe twisted'in the spinning frame.

The separator control rings of the invention may also be very effectively used with the flat separator blades shown, for example, in Figs. 3 and 4 at 92. The fiat separator is commonly used today on spinning frames and is becoming more popular as the need for larger thread packages. is required. As will be more fully described hereinafter, in order that the flat separator 92 may be used with a minimum of interference during dofling, it is often desirable to pivot the fiat plates out of alignment with the bobbins as shown in Fig. 8 and in so doing, the balloon control ring rail must be capable of moving to a position substantially in contactwith the spinning ring rail during dofiing. It has been found that the -combination of the flat and the ring control separators permits the production of very large yarn packages at high speeds without detrimental chafing of the yarn being wound. Thus, where maximum speed and maximum package size are to be obtained, the combination of fiat separator plates and circular separator rings which hold the yarn balloon under constant control are generally considered to be essential.

The separator ring attachment of the invention includes a separator ring. rail 94, more clearly shown in Figs. 12 through 15; a series of separator rings-96g traversing castings 98, guide rods 100, and an improved drive mechanism for the separator ring rail.

The plural guide rods for the traversingca'stings are supported in a vertical position between brackets 102carried by'the base rail or bolster rail and further brackets 104 secured to the roller beam of the spinning machine.

Slidably mounted on each guide rod 100 is a unique traversing casting 98 more clearly shown in Figs. 9 through 11. Referring to Figs. 9 through 11', the traversing casting 98 includes a vertically extending bridge portion 106 and spaced offset boss portions 108' and 110. Each boss portion 108 and 110 in line bored and provided with a bearing bushing 112 to insure a snug bearing for engagement with their respective guide rods 100. The upper boss 110 includes an upwardly and a forwardly extending portion provided with a circular saddle 114 which saddle is adapted to receive the separator ring rail 94. One extension of the circular saddle 114 is bored and tapped to receive a capscrew 116 to secure to the extension a spring clip 118.

The spring clip 118 bears against one surface of-the separator ring rail and maintains the rail in a pre-selected position but permits rotation of the ring andv the ring rail by the operator during high clotting of the wound bobbins.

Referring. again particularly to Figs; 9 through 11, it will be seen that the bridge portion 106 forms an'effec- 4 v tive counterbalance for the extended saddle containing boss. portion the separator ring rail and the rings attached thereto. This balanced construction of the traversing casting in cooperation with the spaced bearings 112 associated with bosses 108 and 110 assures that the sliding engagement between the traversing casting 98 and the guide rods 100 is always substantially in balance insuring long years of continuous use and smooth operation with a minimum of power requirements. Counterbalancing the load on the traversing casting 98 so that the load applied to the saddle or yoke 114 is substantially on the axis of the guide rods 100 throughout the stroke of the traversing casting provides the rigidity and accuracy which is essential to proper operation of a separator control ring when applied to a multiple spinning machine where the spindles rotate on centers with a minimum clearance therebetween. The proper application of the forces on the traversing casting is of extreme importance,-and it has been found that proper balance may be readily obtained without placing unnecessary stresses on the bearings when the weight to be counterbalanced is offset not more than from about 10 to 20 percent of the distance between the spaced bearings 112 formed in the bosses 108 and 110.

On a-thirty-six spindle machine with eighteen spindles in each row two traversing castings have been found to support very effectively the necessary control rings and control ring rail. These castings had the following dimensions:

- Inches Over-all length of bridge member 9 Length of each bearing 1% Distance between upper surface of top bearing and lower surface of saddle About Distance between centerof guide rod for easting'and center ofsaddle About 1 In order to protect the spaced bearings on. the traversing. casting, the upper and lower peripheral edges of the: bearing bushings 112 are advantageously provided with felts generally designated 120 as more clearly shown in Fig. 4 of the drawing. These felts wipe the guide rods 100 of lint and the like which would have a tendency to cause bearing wear or sticking of the bearings. In Figs. 7 and 8 a modified form of bearing protection is shown wherein a thin wall tube extends between the opposed surfaces of the bosses 108 and 110 and replace the innermost opposed felts 120. The thin walled tubing protects the inner section of the guide rod from depositsof lint from the yarn while the two felts adjacent the extended ends of the two bosses 108 and 110 wipe lint and other foreign matter from the unprotected portion of the guide rods.

Referring particularly'to Figs. 12 through 15 of the illustrative embodiments of the invention, the control ringrail comprises a hollow elongated structure having a quadrangular cross-section, provided with a slot 124 extending through the lower face of the rail when the rings are in their normal operating position.

An adapter 126 formed from sheet stock has a pair of parallel legs'128 projecting in one direction and a pair of parallel legs" 130 projecting in the other direction and at right angles to the legs 128. The adapter 126 is also provided with a bore 132. The legs 128 of the adapter engage parallel side walls of the control ring rail anda' bolt 134 passes through the bore 132 and into the slot 124 in the control ring rail. A square out 136 engages the threaded end of the bolt 134 and permits longitudinal sliding adjustment of the adapter 126 while the" bolt 134'- and the flanged legs 128 of the adapter prevent lateral displacement of the control ring.

The balloon control'ring 96 is preferably of the overlapped, split type having an opening 138 therein for the easy insertion and removal-of the yarn therefrom. The 75' control ring 96 is secured, such as by welding, to a mounting bracket 140 provided with a pair of parallel tines or legs 142. The distance between the remoted edges of the pair of tines 142 is equivalent to the distance between the inner surface of the depending flanges 130 of adapter 126 so that with the adapter in place on the control ring rail as more clearly shown in Fig. 14, the tines of the adapter 140 are snugly engaged in the depending legs of adapter 126 and prevent angular displacement of the control ring 96 while permitting adjustment of the ring in a direction normal to the longitudinal extension of the control ring rail. The single bolt 134 locks the adapter 126 in its correct position upon the rail 94 and also locks the legs 142 of the adapter 140 of the control ring in its correct position relative to its respective spindle.

As hereinbefore described, the control ring rail 94 with its attached control rings 96 are received in circular saddles 114 in the upper ends of traversing casting. The spring clip 118 on each of the upper ends of the traversing castings 98 cooperate with the flat faces of the quadrangular control ring rail to maintain the rail in an operating position while permitting the rail to be pivoted in an upward position against the t'ension in the spring clip as shown, for example'in Figs. 7 and 8 of the drawings. The spring clip also holds the control rings in their operating position such as shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4 during (operation of the spinning frame.

The balloon control rings 96 and the control ring rail .94 are operated by the builder mechanism which recip- :rocates the spinning ring rail. The control ring rail operates in synchronized unison with the spinning ring rail :and at a spaced distance thereabove, so that the distance of travel of the control ring rail is approximately oneihalf the distance of travel of the spinning ring rail. The mechanism for bringing about the synchronized reciprocation of the control ring rail and the mechanism which enables the operator to selectively raise the control ring rail above the bobbins as shown in Figs. 7 and 8 or permits the control ring rail to 'be dropped to its lowermost position so that the control rings are substantially in contact with the spinning rings as shown in Figs. and 6 will now be described in detail.

Each of the upper brackets 104, which secure the upper ends of the guide rods 100, to the guide board is provided with a depending arm 144 which rotatably supports adjacent its lower end a pulley 146. The pulleys 146 receive in their pulley grooves a quadrangular key steel rod 148, as more clearly shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. The key steel bar extends substantially the length of the spinning frame and one end thereof adjacent, for example, the gear head 20 of the spinning frame is secured to a chain 150 or other flexible draft means for one of the spindle rows and 152 for the other.

Secured to the inner face of the gear head of the frame is a bracket 154 rotatably mounting a shaft 156 which shaft has secured thereto a pair of cog wheels 158 over which chains 150 and 152 pass 'whereby if chain 150 is pulled the shaft 156 rotates which, in turn, pulls the chain 152 for the back row of spindles. To the lower end of the chain 152 is secured a small counterweight 160 which maintains a slight tension on that chain.

The other end of chain 150 passes under a pulley 162 more clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The pulley 162 is rotatably mounted on a bracket 164 secured to an arm 166 pivotally mounted as at 168 to the remote base rail 24.

The arm 166 extends forwardly of the bracket 164 and :is provided at its extended end with a foot pedal 170. This portion of the assembly also includes a downwardly depending ratchet member 172 provided with two stop elements 174 and 176 which may be engaged by the rear- -ward edge of the foot pedal 170 as desired by the opera- .tor. As shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, the foot pedal .is in engagement with notch or stop element 176, the :normal operating position for the control ring drive. The .lower notch or stop element 174 is for locking the control ring rail in its mostupward position for high doffing of the bobbins and if the foot pedal is moved above the uppermost notch 176, the control ring rail is then permitted to drop into substantial contact with the spinning ring as shown in Figs. 5 and 6.

The chain 150 after passing below the control pulley 162 passes upwardly and is attached as at 180 to an intermediate portion of the lever arm 74 of the drive chain builder mechanism for operating the spinning ring rail. Since the'point 180 of connection of the chain 150 to the arm 74 is closer to the pivot point 80 of the lever arm than the roller 58 the reciprocating motion imparted to key steel 148 is less than the motion imparted to the spinning ring rail.

The key steel rod 148 is connected to each of the traversing castings 98 by means of flexible draft means such as flexible steel bands generally designated 180. The steel bands are secured as by riveting to the undersurface of rods 148 as indicated at 182 with the bands passing over the idler pulleys 146 carried by each of the brackets 104 to depend downwardly for attachment with the lower ends of the traversing castings as indicated at 184, as more clearly shown in Figs. 4, 6 and 8 of the application drawings. Referring particularly to Figs. 10 and 11, it will be seen that each traversing casting is provided with a milled or cast rectilinear surface generally designated 186 parallel to the steel straps 180.

Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawings, it will be seen that as the rod 148 reciprocates on rollers 146 by the action of the builder mechanism through chain 150, the steel strips 180 bring about vertical reciprocating movement in the traversing castings 98 which, in turn, reciprocate the control ring rail 94.

To complete the assembly, a further pulley 188, Fig. 1 of the drawings, carried by bracket 190 secured to the face of guide board 84 provides a further track or support for key steel rod 148. A further flexible steel band 192 connected to the rod 148 passes over the surface of the pulley 188 and the lower end thereof is connected to a counterweight 194 for the control ring attachment, and aids in the smooth reciprocation of the mechanism during operation of the spinning machine.

From the foregoing description of the device of the present invention, it will be appreciated that the control ring attachment for spinning machines provides a simple construction which can be manufactured relatively economically and which, while being strong and sturdy, requires a minimum of power whereby in most installations the power supply for the original spinning frame is wholly adequate to efficiently operate the new and improved balloon control rings.

While a complete embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described, it is to be understood that the invention may be embodied in somewhat different forms without departing from the scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. An attachment for a spinning frame including a series of rotatable spindles, a series of twister rings mounted for reciprocation axially of said spindles, and a builder mechanism including a builder lever controlling the reciprocation of the twister rings; said attachment comprising a series of yarn ballon control rings, a control ring rail, means adjustably mounting said rings on said rail, plural traversing castings mounted for reciprocation axially of said spindles, means for pivotally mounting said rail to the traversing castings, means connecting said traversing casting to the builder lever of the spinning frame for synchronized reciprocation with the twister rings; said connecting means including a manual control device for selectively positioning said control ring rail adjacent the upper ends of the spindles, adjacent the lower ends of the spindles, and in a normal operating position intermediate the length of said spindles.

2. The attachment defined in claim 1 wherein said control ring rail comprises an elongated hollow member Z having a quadrangular cross-section, an elongated opening extending through one wall of said member and from end to end thereof, adapter means engaging the internal and external walls of said member through said elongated opening, and means associated with said adapter for releasably securing said control rings thereto.

3. The attachment for a spinning frame as defined in claim 1 wherein said means connecting the traversing casting to the builder lever includes an elongated rod positioned for reciprocation at right angles to and above the spindles, flexible draft'means connecting said rod and said traversing castings, further flexible draft means connecting one end of said rod and said builder lever, an idler pulley about which said'second flexible draft means passes, means for. mounting said pulley at manually selective positions whereby the relative distance between the control ring rail and the twister rings may be selectively controlled.

4. The invention defined in claim 3 including a ratchet member associated with the idler pulley and foot control means for effecting the selective positioning of said idler pulley on pre-selected members of said ratchet.

5. The attachment defined in claim 1 wherein said traversing castings are mounted for reciprocation on vertically extending shafts, and each of saidcastings 25 2,025,174

include a bridge member provided with spaced upper and lower bosses, each of said bosses providing bearing means for sliding contact with the vertically extending shafts and said upper boss includes a saddle portion adapted to receive the control ring rail and resilient means-urging said control ring rail into engagement with said saddle.

6. The invention defined in claim 5 wherein said-con trol ring rail is manually rotatable in said saddle against the tension of said spring means.

7. The invention defined in claim 5 wherein each of said bridge members andsaid upper bosses are offset on opposite sides of said guide rods to equalize the distribu tion of the forces tending to rotate the traversing casting about the points of sliding contact with the guide rod.

8. The invention defined in claim 5 including means associated with the traversing casting for protecting the bearing surfaces thereof from foreign matter.

9. The invention defined in claim 8 wherein said means for protecting the bearings comprises a wiper member carried by each of said bosses and a shield extending between said bosses and surrounding the bores therein.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 401,217 Saltmarsh et al. Apr. 9, 1889 573,649 Gregson et al Dec. 22, 1896 Owen et al. Dec. 24, 1935 2,503,099 Culbreath Apr. 4, 1950 2,865,162 Hope- Dec. 23, 1958 

